Digital piracy, your thoughts please

2011-02-20 13:20:07

#1

Onidax: Member; +41|6767

Hi, I'm a final year University student and for my dissertation I'm studying piracy. I want to know what factors influence your intention to pirate.

If you want to participate please fill out my anonymous questionnaire on google docs, should only take 5 mins.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewfor … c6MA#gid=0

Cheers guys

2011-02-20 14:56:30

#2

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6427|what

I doin't pirate because as the tv industry said, VHS tape recording will kill the tv movie industry. If you can simply tape a show that's been on the TV, and then give it to your friends, who can also watch and copy the tape then why bother showing a television program twice? Why bother showing a program that has been on another channel at some point? By then somebody would have illegally video taped the program anyway.

And I don't pirate music, because - as the music industry has said, using a casette tape to record radio broadcasts of musicians songs will kill the music industry. This is super serious businesses. If you can use a casette tape to record a musician on the radio, what insentive is there for you to go out and buy a casette recording of that artist? You can make your own!

And I never, ever, pirate pc games. Because, as the pc games industry has said, countless times, if pirates can illegally copy computer games onto a floppy disc, what insentive is there to produce quality games? They'll only be pirated anyway! Have you heard of a game called Doom? That has pirated throughout university campuses by illegal pirates who would simply hand the floppy discs to their dorm mates! Even thought Doom came with a shareware version, that didn't help at all! As I always say - "Don't Copy That Floppy!"

That's why I never pirate. I don't want to kill off the radio, tv and computer games industry. Which are all under serious threat by pirates!

2011-02-20 15:01:54

#3

Doctor Strangelove: Real Battlefield Veterinarian.; +1,758|6742

Yaaarrrrrrrrrrr!

2011-02-20 15:17:42

#4

Trotskygrad: бля; +354|6273|Vortex Ring State

you misspelled religion

just a quick heads up

2011-02-20 15:36:53

#5

Onidax: Member; +41|6767

Cheers for the typo correction

Last edited by Onidax (2011-02-20 15:37:16)

2011-02-20 15:41:26

#6

jsnipy: ...; +3,277|6797|...

piracy is an excuse to leverage control

2011-02-20 16:46:52

#7

unnamednewbie13: Moderator; +2,054|7046|PNW

OP: There's been a revival of this subject in 'All Other Games.' Skim through the 'Minecraft,' 'Crysis 2' and 'chat' threads for both insightful and reactionary comments on the matter.

I can't speak for pirates who digitally steal stuff because they don't want to buy it. That's pretty douchey. But from personal experience, it's actually resulted in some of my money being siphoned off into the media industry's pockets that would have otherwise never left my bank account. Without getting into it too much, here's a [tl;dr] distillation of my arguments:

un13 wrote:
1) Piracy on my pert has introduced me to titles and series that I would have otherwise never been able to afford before and would have never wound up buying when I was able to. Because of my exposure to pirated materials, my gaming shelves are lined from top to bottom with legitimate titles, and my TV is surrounded by consoles.

2) Online showings of TV shows on Youtube have resulted in several rows of complete seasons on my bookshelves. Here's a few that I would have probably overlooked: 'Pinky and the Brain,' 'Sam & Max,' 'Animaniacs,' 'Batman: TAS,' 'Batman Beyond,' 'The Batman,' 'X-Men Evolution,' 'Tiny Toons,' 'Robot Chicken,' 'Star Trek: ToS' (I'd seen a few, but not all of them...until I was able to watch them on youtube; subsequently bought all three seasons on Blu-Ray), 'Rome,' 'Reaper,' 'Dead Like Me,' 'Futurama,' 'Family Guy,' 'South Park,' and the list goes on. There's no waits or due dates like rental stores and public libraries...they're just available. I watched, I enjoyed and I bought. The industry has been getting with the picture, I admit. Sites like 'Hulu' are a step in the right direction, with advertising-paid shows keeping pace with the march of progress.

3) Anti-piracy efforts on the industry's part are understandable, but self-defeating. Unskippable warnings, forced online registration for single player games and sneaky rootkits have done nothing but make pirated versions shine in comparison for their no-nonsense ease of use. As a result, non-pirates are punished for the actions of pirates, and pirates don't even know the difference. It's so irritating for PC games that some titles are advertised as not having CD keys, root kits or other useless nonsense, and as such are often bought because of it. Also irritating is the fact that PC games have pretty much lost most of their resale value due to the personalization practices applied to licensing.

4) Unreasonable persecution of vulnerable targets by the industry as a part of a scare campaign has done nothing but create lawsuit martyrs and galvanize the piracy movement into adopting a 'resistance' mindset.

As to the questionnaire:

'I intend to,' 'I will attempt to' and 'I will make an effort to' are kind of the same question, aren't they? If you're going to root out dishonest survey results, don't make it so obvious. Also, 'positive/negative,' 'good/bad,' 'helpful/harmful?' Maybe it's just padding.

2011-02-20 17:01:35

#8

Dilbert_X: The X stands for; +1,816|6380|eXtreme to the maX

I don't see a huge problem in using cracked software from 5 years ago which is no longer even supported, otherwise piracy is theft.

Fuck Israel

2011-02-20 17:14:56

#9

unnamednewbie13: Moderator; +2,054|7046|PNW

Why I don't do it anymore for software is primarily due to two things:

1) I can afford not to, and prefer to join the industry's market as a viable consumer.
2) I don't like having to watch the things like a hawk for undetected malware (although I now watch legit software like a hawk for spyware).

E: Also, quoting from a debate on another site - "I don't see how any company can justify that they're losing a sale in a market where a product isn't sold."

2011-02-20 17:50:05

#10

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6427|what

I pirate open source software all the time tbh.

2011-02-20 18:34:31

#11

alexb: <3; +590|6214|Kentucky, USA

Thanks! Your response has been recorded.

2011-02-20 18:34:47

#12

globefish23: sophisticated slacker; +334|6598|Graz, Austria

I pirate a few of the good TV shows when they come out, because it takes at least a year until they get over here to Austrian/German TV stations. Also, I despise German dubbings and rather have the original English audio, which isn't available for me until the release on DVD years later.

Some of the music I listen to is from bands that are not available here either. And I'm not a wholesale dealer to go on importing from overseas.

As for PC games, the last couple of years I have hardly pirated anything, mostly because I only play games that have a good online multiplayer part that I wish to participate legally and without any hassle.
Also, because it's actually faster for me to download a game via Steam than via other pirating sources.
Furthermore, I now have enough money to afford games that I'm interested in and buy on impulse, as opposed to my school and university years.

And Steam sales.

Edit:
Only 3 marital status options?
I was in a relationship for a few years and am now engaged.

Also, you may want to ask about children that need extra financial expenditures.

And, occupation ought to be a multiple choice question, as I am both university student and have a part time job.

Last edited by globefish23 (2011-02-20 18:40:00)

2011-02-20 18:38:45

#13

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6427|what

alexb wrote:
Thanks! Your response has been recorded.

Copyright infringement!

2011-02-20 18:57:21

#14

Adams_BJ: Russian warship, go fuck yourself; +2,054|6897|Little Bentcock

dun'd

less than a minute.

RACORD!

2011-02-20 19:03:33

#15

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5632|London, England

Questions were dumb but I finished it anyway.

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-02-20 19:07:33

#16

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5632|London, England

Dilbert_X wrote:
I don't see a huge problem in using cracked software from 5 years ago which is no longer even supported, otherwise piracy is theft.

This mostly. But with the advent of things like Pandora does it really matter if you pirate music anymore? Same goes for old movies.

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-02-20 19:13:16

#17

Doctor Strangelove: Real Battlefield Veterinarian.; +1,758|6742

JohnG@lt wrote:
Questions were dumb but I finished it anyway.

I agree, and several of them were essentially the same question only with slight variation.

2011-02-20 20:30:34

#18

Kmar: Truth is my Bitch; +5,695|6875|132 and Bush

Wasn't the VCR supposed to kill the movie industry? It ended being a MASSIVE boon for them, generating unimaginable loads of cash. If the music and movie industry are smart they will learn to adapt (again) and offer something that makes sending them money worthwhile. For instance, instead of offering mp3's to sell, give us a higher quality format. It's hard for people to feel sorry for the artist that flies around in their own personal plane, or is on the tv with 30 lbs of gold around their neck. THOSE are the peole going after piracy. It's not the small independent groups of radio and film. They, for the most part, know that having their stuff up on youtube and other media sharing sites is actually a good thing. I'm not here to advocate piracy, but rather just to help apply some context.

Xbone Stormsurgezz

2011-02-20 20:40:31

#19

Jaekus: I'm the matchstick that you'll never lose; +957|5453|Sydney

I admit I pirate music. Being a musician myself that's pretty hypocritical, and I'm aware of that. I like to think though the couple dollars the artist would see in royalties on an album sale is better spent on a ticket to their live gig, where they directly get 85-95% of the ticket price. I go to as many gigs as I can; I consider that money well spent.

2011-02-20 20:41:46

#20

Kmar: Truth is my Bitch; +5,695|6875|132 and Bush

JohnG@lt wrote:
Dilbert_X wrote:
I don't see a huge problem in using cracked software from 5 years ago which is no longer even supported, otherwise piracy is theft.
This mostly. But with the advent of things like Pandora does it really matter if you pirate music anymore? Same goes for old movies.

I'd like to see Red Box go online. Don't get me wrong, I love Netflix.. they offer a hell of a lot more than Red Box, but Red Box gets new releases the day they come out. Merge the best of those two services together and you'll see great profit.

Xbone Stormsurgezz

2011-02-21 02:45:21

#21

liquidat0r: wtf.; +2,223|6901|UK

Doctor Strangelove wrote:
JohnG@lt wrote:
Questions were dumb but I finished it anyway.
I agree, and several of them were essentially the same question only with slight variation.

Likewise. Anyway, survey taken.

2011-02-21 03:15:46

#22

globefish23: sophisticated slacker; +334|6598|Graz, Austria

Jaekus wrote:
I admit I pirate music. Being a musician myself that's pretty hypocritical, and I'm aware of that. I like to think though the couple dollars the artist would see in royalties on an album sale is better spent on a ticket to their live gig, where they directly get 85-95% of the ticket price. I go to as many gigs as I can; I consider that money well spent.

This is true.
Musicians make the gross of their income from touring and merchandise sales there, because that cuts out as many middlemen as possible.
(Even if they have their own record labels, they still have to pay distributors and promotion companies.)

Fun trivia:
When Flogging Molly played there first gig in Austria at a festival, they came down to the audience after their set dancing and boozing with the fans.
Me, already drunk as hell, approached some of the guys, admitting that I pirated all their CDs, but came to see them and bought 2 T-shirts.

2011-02-21 10:48:50

#23

unnamednewbie13: Moderator; +2,054|7046|PNW

I wonder if you could get in trouble for pirating your own music...

2011-02-21 10:50:07

#24

Uzique: dasein.; +2,865|6745

"your own music" would have to be signed to a label.

deerhunter's bradford cox had proceedings taken against him by Sony when he posted some demo-tapes and old cassettes to his blog...

he was infuriated - and rightly so.

_{libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual}. _{http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/}

2011-02-21 11:43:32

#25

RDMC: Enemy Wheelbarrow Spotted..!!; +736|6839|Area 51

My thoughts on piracy: made my life cheaper.

Last edited by RDMC (2011-02-21 11:45:44)

BF2S Forums Digital piracy, your thoughts please

un13 wrote:

alexb wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

Doctor Strangelove wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Jaekus wrote:

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